This review of Star Wars and Conflict Resolution appeared on Harvard Law School’s Program on Negotiation (PON)’s blog, written by Katie Shonk
Strategies to resolve conflict can be found in books, in classes, and at work—but what about in a galaxy far, far away? A new book offers conflict-resolution strategies from the Star Wars saga.
When we think of conflict-management experts, we tend to think of mediators, lawyers, professors, and hostage negotiators. But what about Jedis, Wookiees, droids, and Sith? After all, “conflict is everywhere in Star Wars,” as Noam Ebner and Jen Reynolds write in the introduction to their new edited book, Star Wars and Conflict Resolution: There Are Alternatives to Fighting. From lightsaber duels to fighter battles in space to trade disputes, the 11 films in the franchise are full of dramatic disputes and conflicts, violent and nonviolent—and they also hint at strategies to resolve conflict.
In Star Wars and Conflict Resolution, the contributors—professors and mediators; judges and lawyers; all of them, it seems, Star Wars fanatics—analyze scenes and characters from the franchise through the lens of conflict resolution…
Continue reading on Harvard Law School’s Program on Negotiation (PON) blog
